US freight transport at multi-year highs in March

BenLefebvre

HOUSTON -(MarketWatch)- Freight shipments rose in March to their highest level in nearly three years, the U.S. Department of Transportation said Wednesday.

The amount of freight carried increased by 1.9% over February, pushing the agency's freight transport service index, or TSI, to a 33-month high. The increase illustrates an improving economy as more goods are shipped throughout the country.

The agency measures freight movement for-hire freight transport via trucking, rail, inland waterways pipelines and air freight. It measures the month-to-month changes in freight shipments in ton-miles, which are then combined into one index.

Whether the activity continues into April's statistics is in doubt, however. The Association of American Railroads reported rail carloads decreased by 0.2% year over year in April, the first drop in 14 months.

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